Morocco’s Ombudsman Institution has announced the successful resolution of the nearly 11-month-long dispute between the Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation and medical and pharmaceutical students, as part of its role as an independent constitutional institution dedicated to ensuring effective communication.
The institution added in a press release published on Friday that medical students have returned to classes and clinical internships, marking the end of nearly eleven months of protests, which included a complete boycott of classes and exams.
“This came as a result of the joint efforts of all parties involved and demonstrates the successful coordination between the Ombudsman Institution and other stakeholders,” the institution added. “This coordination helped create a conducive environment for dialogue, fostering trust, communication, and alignment of perspectives, ultimately leading to solutions that provided a constitutional and legal response to the demands raised since the beginning of the protests.”
The Ombudsman Institution also noted that tensions within the medical and pharmaceutical faculties came to an end during this period, calling on all parties to continue dialogue calmly and constructively to uphold the quality of medical education, contribute to the improvement of the healthcare sector in Morocco, and develop the national health system.
The institution urged all stakeholders to find common ground and strengthen mutual trust, establishing ongoing channels of communication to implement the agreed-upon solutions in support of medical education and the public university system in the Kingdom.
The Ombudsman Institution did not provide details on the ministry’s specific settlement measures implemented.